Nissen PhD on self-efficacy in intro physics, a gender study

Jayson Nissen

Self-Efficacy State Experiences in Introductory Physics: A Gender Study

Nationally, few undergraduates choose physics as a major, and among those who do, very few are women. One potential contributor to this problem is the impact that physics instruction seems to have on students’ self-efficacy, which is student’s thoughts and feelings about their capabilities to succeed as learners in physics. Self-efficacy plays an important role in student achievement in academics generally and in students pursuing STEM degrees. Conversely, research has shown that the self-efficacy of both men and women tends to be reduced after taking traditional and research-based physics courses. Moreover, self-efficacy tends to be reduced further for women than for men. However, it remains unclear whether the negative shifts in self-efficacy in physics are caused by physics instruction. It may be that the negative shift in self-efficacy reflects a broader trend in university education that has little to do with physics per se. I investigated this and other alternative explanations for negative shifts in self-efficacy in physics courses using an in-the-moment measurement technique called the Experience Sampling Method. The technique allowed me to collect students’ day-to-day feelings of self-efficacy, which I called states, and to compare students’ self-efficacy states in physics to those in other STEM courses. I found that students experienced much lower self-efficacy states in physics than in their other STEM courses. Moreover, this difference largely affected women who experienced physics, and only physics, with much lower self-efficacy states than men. Given that experiences are an established sources of self-efficacy beliefs and women also had much more negative shifts in their self-efficacy beliefs I concluded that the experience of physics instruction was probably a causal factor in women’s reduced self-efficacy. Further analysis found that the gender difference in self-efficacy states was more than twice that predicted by students’ pre-course achievement, attitudes and beliefs. Thus I tentatively concluded that the negative impact on women’s self-efficacy resulted from inequities in the physics-learning environment rather than preexisting gender differences. I present evidence that the physics course I investigated was similar to other research-based physics courses and tentatively I concluded that physics instruction in general is detrimental to women’s self-efficacy.

Smith, Mountcastle, Thompson on the Boltzmann factor

T.I. Smith, D.B. Mountcastle, and J.R. Thompson

Student understanding of the Boltzmann factor

Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 11, 020123 (2015).  
Published 23 September 2015.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevSTPER.11.020123

[This paper is part of the Focused Collection on Upper Division Physics Courses.] We present results of our investigation into student understanding of the physical significance and utility of the Boltzmann factor in several simple models. We identify various justifications, both correct and incorrect, that students use when answering written questions that require application of the Boltzmann factor. Results from written data as well as teaching interviews suggest that many students can neither recognize situations in which the Boltzmann factor is applicable nor articulate the physical significance of the Boltzmann factor as an expression for multiplicity, a fundamental quantity of statistical mechanics. The specific student difficulties seen in the written data led us to develop a guided-inquiry tutorial activity, centered around the derivation of the Boltzmann factor, for use in undergraduate statistical mechanics courses. We report on the development process of our tutorial, including data from teaching interviews and classroom observations of student discussions about the Boltzmann factor and its derivation during the tutorial development process. This additional information informed modifications that improved students’ abilities to complete the tutorial during the allowed class time without sacrificing the effectiveness as we have measured it. These data also show an increase in students’ appreciation of the origin and significance of the Boltzmann factor during the student discussions. Our findings provide evidence that working in groups to better understand the physical origins of the canonical probability distribution helps students gain a better understanding of when the Boltzmann factor is applicable and how to use it appropriately in answering relevant questions.

Smith, Christensen, Mountcastle, and Thompson on entropy, heat engines, and the Carnot cycle

Trevor I. Smith, Warren M. Christensen, Donald B. Mountcastle, and John R. Thompson

Identifying student difficulties with entropy, heat engines, and the Carnot cycle

Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 11, 020116 – Published 23 September 2015

[This paper is part of the Focused Collection on Upper Division Physics Courses.] We report on several specific student difficulties regarding the second law of thermodynamics in the context of heat engines within upper-division undergraduate thermal physics courses. Data come from ungraded written surveys, graded homework assignments, and videotaped classroom observations of tutorial activities. Written data show that students in these courses do not clearly articulate the connection between the Carnot cycle and the second law after lecture instruction. This result is consistent both within and across student populations. Observation data provide evidence for myriad difficulties related to entropy and heat engines, including students’ struggles in reasoning about situations that are physically impossible and failures to differentiate between differential and net changes of state properties of a system. Results herein may be seen as the application of previously documented difficulties in the context of heat engines, but others are novel and emphasize the subtle and complex nature of cyclic processes and heat engines, which are central to the teaching and learning of thermodynamics and its applications. Moreover, the sophistication of these difficulties is indicative of the more advanced thinking required of students at the upper division, whose developing knowledge and understanding give rise to questions and struggles that are inaccessible to novices.

Wittmann and Black on procedural resources in mathematics

Michael C. Wittmann and Katrina E. BLack

Mathematical actions as procedural resources: An example from the separation of variables.

Physical Review Special Topics - Physics Education Research, 11, 020114 - Published Sept 23, 2015
doi:10.1103/PhysRevSTPER.11.020114

Abstract:
[This paper is part of the Focused Collection on Upper Division Physics Courses.] Students learning to separate variables in order to solve a differential equation have multiple ways of correctly doing so. The procedures involved in separation include division or multiplication after properly grouping terms in an equation, moving terms (again, at times grouped) from one location on the page to another, or simply carrying out separation as a single act without showing any steps. We describe student use of these procedures in terms of Hammer’s resources, showing that each of the previously listed procedures is its own “piece” of a larger problem solving activity. Our data come from group examinations of students separating variables while solving an air resistance problem in an intermediate mechanics class. Through detailed analysis of four groups of students, we motivate that the mathematical procedures are resources and show the issues that students must resolve in order to successfully separate variables. We use this analysis to suggest ways in which new resources (such as separation) come to be.

Barth-Cohen and Wittmann on student model revision with Energy Theater

Lauren Barth-Cohen and Michael C. Wittmann

Mismatches between Represented Science Content and Unmet Expectations as a Mechanism of Model Revision.
Peer reviewed conference proceedings of the National Association of Research in Science Teaching 2015.

Models and modeling are a growing topic in science education. We focus on one of the sub-processes of modeling: model revision. The process of model revision is typically underdefined in specially designed modeling curricula. There are many ways to conceptualize model revision, but here we focus on model revision due to mismatches between the science content represented in a model and unmet expectations about that same model. Drawing on the knowledge-in–pieces theoretical framework, we present five cases of such model revision in the context of 9th graders modeling the steady state energy of the Earth using an embodied modeling instructional activity. These mismatches led students to modify both the conceptual content and how it was represented in their model. This mechanism for model revision may be applicable to model revision in other classroom instruction settings.

Bajracharya and Thompson on the Application and Understanding of the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus in Physics

R. R. Bajracharya and J. R. Thompson
Student application and understanding of the fundamental theorem of calculus at the mathematics-physics interface
Proceedings of the 17th Annual Conference on Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education, pp. 43-54 (Mathematical Association of America, 2014).

We studied students’ understanding of the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus (FTC) in graphical representations that are relevant in physics contexts. Two versions of written surveys, one in mathematics and one in physics, were administered in multivariable calculus and introductory calculus-based physics classes, respectively. Individual interviews were conducted with students from the survey population. A series of FTC-based physics questions were asked during the interviews. The written and interview data have yielded evidence of several student difficulties in interpreting or applying the FTC to the problems given, including attempting to evaluate the antiderivative at individual points and using the slope rather than the area to determine the integral. The interview results further suggest that students often fail to make meaningful connections between individual elements of the FTC. 

Flood Harrar Wittmann and many others on embodied cognition in chemistry

Virginia J. Flood, François G. Amar, Ricardo Nemirovsky, Benedikt W. Harrer, Mitchell R. M. Bruce, and Michael C. Wittmann

Paying Attention to Gesture when Students Talk Chemistry: Interactional Resources for Responsive Teaching

Journal of Chemical Education
J. Chem. Educ., 2015, 92 (1), pp 11–22
DOI: 10.1021/ed400477b
Publication Date (Web): October 21, 2014

Abstract: When students share and explore chemistry ideas with others, they use gestures and their bodies to perform their understanding. As a publicly visible, spatio–dynamic medium of expression, gestures and the body provide productive resources for imagining the submicroscopic, three-dimensional, and dynamic phenomena of chemistry together. In this paper, we analyze the role of gestures and the body as interactional resources in interactive spaces for collaborative meaning-making in chemistry. With our moment-by-moment analysis of video-recorded interviews, we demonstrate how creating spaces for, attending to, and interacting with students’ gestures and bodily performances generate opportunities for learning. Implications for teaching and assessment that are responsive to students’ ideas in chemistry are discussed.

Smith Wittmann Carter on analyzing the FMCE

Trevor I. Smith, Michael C. Wittmann, and Tom Carter

Applying model analysis to a resource-based analysis of the Force and Motion Conceptual Evaluation

Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res 10, 020102 – Published 2 July 2014
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevSTPER.10.020102

ABSTRACT
Previously, we analyzed the Force and Motion Conceptual Evaluation in terms of a resources-based model that allows for clustering of questions so as to provide useful information on how students correctly or incorrectly reason about physics. In this paper, we apply model analysis to show that the associated model plots provide more information regarding the results of investigations using these question clusters than normalized gain graphs. We provide examples from two different institutions to show how the use of model analysis with our redefined clusters can provide previously hidden insight into the effectiveness of instruction.

Clark, Thompson, and Mountcastle on PV diagrams in physics and engineering

J. W. Clark, J. R. Thompson, and D. B. Mountcastle
Investigating Student Conceptual Difficulties in Thermodynamics Across Multiple Disciplines: The First Law and P-V Diagrams
Proceedings of 121st ASEE (American Society for Engineering Education) Annual Conference and Exposition (2014).

Thermodynamics is a core part of the curriculum in physics and many engineering fields. While individual courses in each discipline appear to cover many of the same topics at some level, the emphasis, applications, and many representations are idiosyncratic to the field. Education researchers in both disciplines have studied thermodynamics learning and teaching. Physics education researchers have identified student difficulties with foundational concepts such as heat, temperature, and entropy as well as with larger grain-sized ideas such as state variables, path-dependent processes, etc.  Engineering education research shows analogous findings and has identified additional difficulties unique to engineering contexts, such as confusion between steady-state and equilibrium processes.
     An open question is the extent to which discipline-specific research findings apply across disciplines.  Previous work by us and our colleagues in physics education research has explored student difficulties with thermodynamics and statistical mechanics in upper-division physics courses.  We have recently broadened the scope of our own investigation to include mechanical and chemical engineering courses, to see whether similar difficulties are present in these disciplines and how certain instructional pedagogies may affect student learning.  At our institution, thermodynamics is not covered in the introductory physics course sequence, so for most students this is their first formal encounter with the topic.
     Our initial focus is on the First Law of Thermodynamics and its constituent elements, as this topic is fundamental to all the courses of interest.  We have administered hand-written, free- response questions to students at various points before and/or after instruction.  The questions discussed here require interpretation of graphical information about thermodynamic processes. We have coded responses according to student reasoning (e.g., area under the curve, time- related) provided in the data so as not to confine our understanding of student ideas  We find that most reasoning patterns are present in all disciplines although the frequency varies by discipline. Initial answering patterns are similar across disciplines with a high proportion of students responding with incorrect ideas.  The post-instruction patterns are improved but show persistence of some specific difficulties (e.g. work is path-independent).  These outcomes vary between courses and are consistent with disciplinary emphasis and individual instructional practice.

Wittmann and Black on Consistency Plots

Michael C. Wittmann and Katrina E. Black

Visualizing changes in pretest and post-test student responses with consistency plots
Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res 10, 010114 – Published 5 May 2014

Tabular presentations of student data often hide information about the switches in responses by individual students over the course of a semester. We extend unpublished work by Kanim on “escalator diagrams,” which show changes in student responses from correct to incorrect (and vice versa) while representing pre- and postinstruction results on questions. We introduce the representation of “consistency plots,” containing three pieces of information: each student’s method of solution and correctness of solution and the shift from before to after instruction. We present data from students in an intermediate mechanics class answering (nearly) identical midterm and final examination questions. These data serve as a proof of concept of the method; we suggest other possible uses of consistency plots in physics education research, as well.

Harrer PhD on productive resources in secondary school students' discourse about energy

Identifying Productive Resources in Secondary School Students' Discourse About Energy

Benedikt Walter Harrer

A growing program of research in science education acknowledges the beginnings of disciplinary reasoning in students’ ideas and seeks to inform instruction that responds productively to these disciplinary progenitors in the moment to foster their development into sophisticated scientific practice. This dissertation examines secondary school students’ ideas about energy for progenitors of disciplinary knowledge and practice. Previously, researchers argued that students’ ideas about energy were constrained by stable and coherent conceptual structures that conflicted with an assumed unified scientific conception and therefore needed to be replaced. These researchers did not attend to the productive elements in students’ ideas about energy.
To analyze the disciplinary substance in students’ ideas, a theoretical perspective was developed that extends Hammer and colleagues’ resources framework. This elaboration allows for the identification of disciplinary productive resources—i.e., appropriately activated declarative and procedural pieces of knowledge—in individual students’ utterances as well as in the interactions of multiple learners engaged in group learning activities.

Using this framework, original interview transcripts from one of the most influential studies of students’ ideas about energy (Watts, 1983. Some alternative views of energy. Physics Education, 18/5, 213-217) were analyzed. Disciplinary productive resources regarding the ontology of energy, indicators for energy, and mechanistic reasoning about energy were found to be activated by interviewed students. These valuable aspects were not recognized by the original author. An interpretive analysis of video recorded student-centered discourse in rural Maine middle schools was carried out to find cases of resource activation in classroom discussions. Several cases of disciplinary productive resources regarding the nature of energy and its forms as well as the construction of a mechanistic energy story were identified and richly described.

Like energy, resources are manifested in various ways. The results of this study imply the necessity of appropriate disciplinary training for teachers that enables them to recognize and productively respond to disciplinary progenitors of the energy concept in students’ ideas.

Recommended Citation:

Harrer, Benedikt Walter, "Identifying Productive Resources in Secondary School Students' Discourse About Energy" (2013). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 2065.
https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/etd/2065

Levi Lucy MST on energy knowledge of students and teachers

Levi Lucy

Correlations Between Students Performance on Assessments and Teachers’ Knowledge of Students and Energy

Research in energy education is important due to increased attention to energy in recent standards. Within education research, looking at the different knowledge teachers have and use while teaching is also a growing area. This study was a pilot study in looking at whether and if so, how, the different knowledge teachers have and use correlates with student performance, in an effort to help focus professional development and pre-service teacher programs. A single survey was used to measure two different types of teacher knowledge: knowledge of common content, and knowledge of content and students, as well as student performance. The results show that where correlations between teachers knowledge and student performance could exist, they did. Students of teachers who gave more detailed responses in a free response question performed better after instruction, than those that were not. Additionally, students of teachers who were able to predict and explain student misconceptions on the same questions used on the student performance assessment, performed better after instruction. Modifications to the teacher assessment are needed tools to investigate teachers’ knowledge of energy more deeply, and to engage teachers more in the assessment tasks.

Recommended Citation

Lucy, Levi, "Correlations Between Students Performance on Assessments and Teachers' Knowledge of Students and Energy" (2013). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 2010.

http://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/etd/2010

Harrer, Flood, and Wittmann on productive resources about energy

Benedikt W. Harrer, Virginia J. Flood, and Michael C. Wittmann

Productive resources in students’ ideas about energy: An alternative analysis of Watts’ original interview transcripts
Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 9, 023101 – Published 10 September 2013

For over 30 years, researchers have investigated students’ ideas about energy with the intent of reforming instructional practice. In this pursuit, Watts contributed an influential study with his 1983 paper “Some alternative views of energy” [Phys. Educ. 18, 213 (1983)]. Watts’ “alternative frameworks” continue to be used for categorizing students’ non-normative ideas about energy. Using a resources framework, we propose an alternate analysis of student responses from Watts’ interviews. In our analysis, we show how students’ activated resources about energy are disciplinarily productive. We suggest that fostering seeds of scientific understandings in students’ ideas about energy may play an important role in their development of scientific literacy.

Smith, Thompson, Mountcastle on Taylor Series Expansions in Statistical Mechanics

T.I. Smith, J.R. Thompson and D.B. Mountcastle
Student Understanding of Taylor Series Expansions in Statistical Mechanics
Physical Review Special Topics - Physics Education Research 9, 020110 (2013). http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevSTPER.9.020110

One goal of physics instruction is to have students learn to make physical meaning of specific mathematical expressions, concepts, and procedures in different physical settings. As part of research investigating student learning in statistical physics, we are developing curriculum materials that guide students through a derivation of the Boltzmann factor using a Taylor series expansion of entropy. Using results from written surveys, classroom observations, and both individual think-aloud and teaching interviews, we present evidence that many students can recognize and interpret series expansions, but they often lack fluency in creating and using a Taylor series appropriately, despite previous exposures in both calculus and physics courses.

Wittmann, Flood, and many others on negotiations of energy in a structured environment (Energy Theater)

Rachel E. Scherr*, Hunter G. Close†, Eleanor W. Close†, Virginia J. Flood‡, Sarah B. McKagan*, Amy D. Robertson*, Lane Seeley*, Michael C. Wittmann§‡, and Stamatis Vokos*

Negotiating energy dynamics through embodied action in a materially structured environment

Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 9, 020105 – Published 11 July 2013

* Department of Physics, Seattle Pacific University, Seattle, WA
† Department of Physics, Texas State University, San Marcos, TX
‡ Maine Center for Research in STEM Education, Orono, ME
§ Department of Physics, University of Maine, Orono, ME

We provide evidence that a learning activity called Energy Theater engages learners with key conceptual issues in the learning of energy, including disambiguating matter flow and energy flow and theorizing mechanisms for energy transformation. A participationist theory of learning, in which learning is indicated by changes in speech and behavior, supports ethnographic analysis of learners’ embodied interaction with each other and the material setting. We conduct detailed analysis to build plausible causal links between specific features of Energy Theater and the conceptual engagement that we observe. Disambiguation of matter and energy appears to be promoted especially by the material structure of the Energy Theater environment, in which energy is represented by participants, while objects are represented by areas demarcated by loops of rope. Theorizing mechanisms of energy transformation is promoted especially by Energy Theater’s embodied action, which necessitates modeling the time ordering of energy transformations.